Once Inside the Immortal Sect, the Depths Are Like the Sea

All the Su Family elders and disciples bowed in submission. Not a trace of disrespect or malicious intent toward Su Hao remained.

Having joined a second-tier immortal sect and become an elder's disciple, Su Hao's status had soared by a thousand zhang, like a dragon rising into the nine heavens.

Su Hao waved his hand and said, "The Su Family will grow strong. Your names will resound far and wide. In the future, throughout the Great Xia Dynasty, people will know that the number one family bears the name Su!"

His bold words ignited their blood, shaking every member of the Su Family. The younger disciples, especially, burned with fervor.

"Supreme Elder." Su Hao turned to look at Su Jingshan.

"Patriarch." Su Jingshan clasped his fists, incomparably respectful.

"After I leave, you will handle all matters, great and small, within the Su Family. Those who disobey, kill! Those who refuse to submit, kill! Those who violate the Su Family laws, kill!"

Su Hao was cold and merciless.

"Yes!"

Su Jingshan answered loudly.

"Of course, rewards and punishments must go hand in hand. I will leave behind one thousand low-grade spirit stones, thirty Spirit Tempering Pills, three second-tier spells, and three Mystic-grade cultivation techniques. Reward those outstanding and promising juniors! Reward those who contribute to the family and remain fiercely loyal!"

Su Hao believed in both reward and punishment—after the stick came the sweet date.

"Yes!"

Su Jingshan's voice rose even louder, his expression filled with excitement.

A thousand low-grade spirit stones were precious enough to be called a treasure.

Even the Supreme Elder was immensely tempted by the Spirit Tempering Pills.

Cultivation techniques passed down in the mortal world were divided into Human, Mystic, Earth, and Heaven grades. The Su Family had been inherited for one hundred and thirty years, yet it possessed only the most basic Human-grade formulas. Only great families like the Luo Family could produce Mystic-grade techniques.

Su Hao was preparing to offer three at once—enough to be called the Su Family's foundation.

Moreover, those three second-tier spells were equally precious, surpassing anything possessed by any family in Great Flame City.

"These are merely the most basic things needed for the Su Family's current development. As for higher-level treasures, that will depend on your performance. Once you are strong enough, I will naturally bring out even more."

Su Hao spoke loudly, then swept his sleeve and departed at once.

Only after he left did the clamor at the scene erupt. Every face held nothing but shock, every heart nothing but awe. As they watched Su Hao's retreating back, there was only worship.

In their hearts, the youth was a heavenly god!

"The Patriarch's potential is limitless. What he possesses is beyond your ability to imagine. Remember this: his becoming the head of the Su Family is the fortune of us all—the heavenly fortune of our Su Family!"

The Supreme Elder gazed up at the heavens, toward the blazing sun hanging high in the sky. It was as if he could see the Su Family's future, like the great sun standing overhead and illuminating heaven and earth.

"We submit!"

The elders below, along with every disciple, all dropped to their knees. The things Su Hao had produced were beyond measure in value, making everyone utterly and wholeheartedly devoted.

Over the following days, Su Hao cultivated in his room. He refined thirty Spirit Tempering Pills and selected three spells and three cultivation techniques from the Devil Master's inheritance.

He handed all of them over to the Supreme Elder.

In the past, Su Hao would not have dared to reveal them. But now, with an elder of a second-tier immortal sect backing him, even if other families learned of them, they would not dare casually set their sights on them.

Moreover, he now had a sufficient explanation for where those items had come from.

On the third day, with everyone seeing them off, Su Hao and Lin Yaoyao boarded Xiao Wuji's avian demon beast, the Flame Sword Eagle, and vanished over the horizon in the blink of an eye.

For his first flight through the skies, Su Hao watched the mountains, rivers, and earth flash swiftly beneath him. Feeling the vast gale howl past his ears and gazing at the boundless blue sky and white clouds, limitless lofty ambition rose within his heart.

My future lies beyond the horizon. I will ascend to the heavens and descend to the earth, transcend mortality, and become immortal!

"Why do you cultivate?" Xiao Wuji suddenly asked.

The gale roared fiercely, cold as bone-piercing blades, yet Xiao Wuji's voice reached Su Hao's ears with perfect clarity.

"I need strength. I want my shoulders to be able to bear the things I wish to bear," Su Hao answered calmly, circulating his spiritual power to send his voice to the other man.

Xiao Wuji stood up. His long hair whipped wildly in the wind, his robes snapped and fluttered, and his eyes held a profound look as though he were pondering something. Only after a long while did he smile. "Your ambition is truly great!"

Su Hao understood what he meant. Human desires were boundless, and the things one wished to bear were likewise boundless. It was a demand with no end; Su Hao's ambition was greater than the heavens.

Yet Su Hao did not find it difficult. He smiled faintly and said, "A soldier who does not wish to become a general is not a good soldier. A cultivator who does not wish to overturn heaven and become immortal is not a good cultivator."

"Since I have set foot upon this path, I will be ambitious!"

"Good!" Xiao Wuji laughed. "You are very much like me when I was young. I hope you can continue to hold fast to that belief."

"I am not someone who changes easily."

"Tell me, would it kill you to call me Master? I saved you, helped the Su Family, and even brought you into a second-tier immortal sect. Am I not worthy of you calling me Master?" Xiao Wuji said gloomily. "Why do you not have even a shred of gratitude?"

"I do." Su Hao gave an innocent smile, displaying the vigor a youth should have. "I thank heaven, I thank earth, I thank the sunlight for shining upon the land."

Xiao Wuji nearly spat out a mouthful of blood.

"And I thank you too, Master!" Su Hao turned to Xiao Wuji and smiled faintly. Since he had spoken that word, he would acknowledge it. One call of Master, a lifetime as Master!

A master was like a father!

"Hahahaha!"

Xiao Wuji burst into laughter.

The Flame Sword Eagle had reached the peak of the Qi Condensation Realm, and its speed was astonishing. A day later, they arrived at a vast mountain range shrouded in dense white mist, as though clouds had gathered there. The fog obstructed one's vision; ordinary people who entered would immediately lose their way, unable to find their way out.

"The Hundred Thousand Mountains, also known as the Great Wilderness Mountains, are the most straightforward place for Spirit Creek Sect disciples to gain experience. If the two of you get the chance to come here in the future, I will also grant you a simple route map so that you do not mistakenly enter a forbidden region."

After Xiao Wuji gave this brief introduction, the Flame Sword Eagle accelerated, passing through the mist-shrouded mountains. At their center, an immense mountain peak appeared.

The peak was majestic, towering into the clouds. Looking upon it filled one with a sense of grandeur and magnificence; standing at its foot, one could only feel as tiny as an ant.

Moreover, the mountain range stretched on without end, like several enormous peaks joined together. Waterfalls poured down its slopes, while flowers scented the air and birds sang. Spirit cranes soared into the sky, and strange beasts cried out.

Though it was the bitter cold of winter, flowers here bloomed in abundance and branches were lush with leaves, like weather in April. There was neither bone-piercing cold nor unbearable heat. It was truly baffling, as if they had stumbled upon a paradise beyond the world.

"The Spirit Creek Sect's mountain gate bears an unparalleled grand formation, altering the seasons and gathering spiritual energy. Cultivating here yields twice the result with half the effort," Xiao Wuji said again.

Su Hao and Lin Yaoyao were both filled with astonishment. They had only heard of immortal sects before; now that they had truly seen one, they could not suppress the shock in their hearts.

"Brother Hao, I like it here." Lin Yaoyao gave an honest, simple smile.

Su Hao nodded. "It really is not bad."

"Do not be happy too soon. Behind this beautiful scenery lies merciless slaughter. Within an immortal sect, it is even more perilous than the outside world. It follows the laws of nature: the weak are prey to the strong, and only the fit survive. Every inch of the beautiful land you see may be stained with blood and hatred." Xiao Wuji's expression turned solemn. "Once you enter an immortal sect, it is as deep as the sea."